On Doing Business Globally. Aka What About Paris? Trade. Law. Politics. New Ideas. Old Verities. Paris. Parker Posey. Verve.

May 19, 2014

Today the U.S. Justice Department announced its indictment of five Chinese military officers for stealing commercial data from American companies and unions. The defendants are in Unit 61398 of the Third Department of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army. They are Wang Dong, Sun Kailiang, Wen Xinyu, Huang Zhenyu, and Gu Chunhui. See DOJ's press release--we believe that it has coined here the phrase "military hacker"--and articles by Reuters and Bloomberg News. The case will be brought out of the well-regarded U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh) against the named Chinese officers for spying on several Pittsburgh-based companies, including established firms in steel or energy-related products and services, like Alcoa, U.S. Steel and Westinghouse. China's response has been predictably quick and shrill. The Los Angeles Times: China blasts 'absurd' U.S. charges of cyberespionage. But something other than the well-crafted indictment, compelling press release and China's initial response really caught our attention today. The best symbol of the sheer novelty of this action? And of DOJ's seriousness in pursuing it? It is--hands down--the FBI wanted posters made available to the press today. Is Eric Holder's DOJ in your face or what?